Uncharted 2: Among Thieves for the Playstation 3 is many things. It’s action game, a platformer, a puzzle game, and most of all, it’s an adventure game.

Developed by Naughty Dog, creators of Crash Bandicoot and the Jak & Daxter games, Uncharted 2 does many things well. But what it does best of all is that it manages to blend everything you enjoy about games into one incredibly enjoyable package.

Set two years after the events of Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, the sequel continues the adventures of Nathan Drake on his new quest to find the “Cintamani Stone” and the lost city of “Shambhala”. On his tail is the Serbian war criminal, Zoran Lazarevic. Along with his private army, he seeks the stone in his pursuit for ultimate power.

Featuring returning characters such as Elena Fischer and Sully Sullivan, Among Thieves introduces many new characters such as femme fatale and fellow adventurer, Chloe Frazer, and along with rival thief Harry Flynn. The stakes are much higher in Drake’s new adventure.

As you can probably tell, Uncharted 2 has a large emphasis on story, characters and overall presentation. First off, this game features some of the best writing and “acting” I’ve ever seen in a game. The characters are portrayed by real actors, through motion-capture technology, who bring a lot of credibility to the game with their performances.

Nathan Drake’s humor and reluctant personality makes him by far one of the most likable characters I’ve ever played as in a video game. One of my favorite aspects of the game is that the characters will speak out loud when they come across obstacles and even make jokes while traversing the many environments.

This game already had a ton of personality based purely on the story scenes, but the banter coming from the characters during gameplay brings even more charm to the game.

The whole look of the game matches what you would see in a summer blockbuster. Graphically speaking, this game features some of the best looking visuals to come out of this console generation. The transitions between story cutscene (where the gameplay stops and you watch a quick movie) and into gameplay is nearly seamless.

The characters in the game have by far the best looking and most detailed animation I’ve ever seen in a game. The intricacies and nuances in the character animations really come out during the more action oriented sequences.

Characters will duck their heads when bullets fly by, and show off their grit when they’re landing punches on bad guys. You can definitely feel the “weight” of the characters when you’re playing.

Environments also share this level of detail. City streets are littered with papers, debris and advertisements, snow flakes stick to your character’s face and clothes, abandoned monasteries look decrepit and weathered; Naughty Dog put in a lot of time and energy into getting the look of the game right, and it definitely shows.

Among Thieves inherits most of the featured gameplay, combines platforming, scaling objects, and shooter gameplay, from it’s predecessor. In this outing, the gameplay is much more refined.

Melee attacks are no longer “rhythm” based, and now actually require players to mash the punch button, which feels more natural. During shootouts, players will still have to utilize cover to avoid enemy fire.

Uncharted 2 adds brand new features to spice the action up. There are several sequences throughout the game where players will be able to use stealth to eliminate enemies. Beating enemies through stealth will yield more ammo and some rare weapons.

While Drake’s Fortune only had the single player campaign to play, the sequel goes a long way to add new content with the inclusion of online co-op and multiplayer. With the single player campaign averaging around 11-12 hours to finish, the new online modes help round out the package.

The competitive multiplayer is robust and contains all the features you’d expect from most other games. The most interesting play type is the Plunder mode, which brings a new take on the classic, “Capture the Flag” mode.

Opposing teams must fight to gain possession of a treasure and return it to their base. While in your possession, you’ll be able to pass it off to other teammates by throwing it to them or to higher ground.

Personally, the co-op mode is my favorite of two. Instead of taking the easier route of just shoehorning a second player in the main campaign, co-op mode present three players with completely new scenarios to play through. Containing three different co-op types and spread across three different stages, the pace of the game is much different than on the other game modes.

While you are visiting the same places from the single player mode, which is a little disappointing, the environments have been altered to fit the additional players, and much more enemies have been added.

Surprisingly, this mode is the most challenging thing about the game. The kind of challenges the players will be presented with is sometimes a bit overwhelming, but careful coordination with your allies will help you overcome the odds.

I was completely blown away by Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. I could nitpick about some of the stealth segments or the small slowdowns that occur during some heavy action, but those are so minor that you’ll immediately forget about it once you’ve continued playing.

From start to finish, Among Thieves delivered on every level. I enjoyed the story, the characters, the gameplay, the exploration, and most of all the visuals. If you own a PS3 or are looking to buy one, this is the game to get. It is by far the best game to come out in the last few years.